Wall Street opens sharply lower amid intense flight-to-safety

• Recession fears continue to weigh on Wall Street's main indexes.
• S&P 500's all major sectors are in the negative territory in the early trade.
• CBOE Volatility Index rises more than 7% on Wednesday.

Major equity indexes in the United States started the day sharply lower on Wednesday as the disappointing private-sector employment data following Tuesday's weak Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) figures escalated recession fears and weighed on the market sentiment.

As of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average was losing 1.23% on the day while the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq Composite were both erasing 1.3%. Reflecting the risk-averse environment, the CBOE Volatility Index, Wall Street's fear gauge, is up nearly 8% on Wednesday.

Among the 11-major S&P 500 sectors, which are all in the negative territory in the early trade, the risk-sensitive Technology Index and the Communication Services Index are down 1.62% and 1.25% to lead the losses.